Five Great Things About Living in… Cambie

Christina Newberry

February 29, 2016

Stretching north-south between 16th and 41st Avenues and east-west between Granville and Ontario streets, the MLS-defined Cambie neighbourhood represents a huge chunk of central Vancouver real estate. From bustling Cambie Street to the sprawling Queen Elizabeth Park, this neighbourhood combines the benefits of well-connected city life with the joys of nature and some of the city’s best recreational facilities.

1. Green Space and Gardens Galore

Queen Elizabeth Park sits on 52 acres at the highest point in Vancouver, offering stunning views of the city and mountains. The former site of the Little Mountain Quarry, located within the park, has been turned into a dramatic garden, and elsewhere in the park are Canada’s first civic arboretum, a rose garden and the Bloedel Conservatory. The neighbourhood is also home to the 22-hectare VanDusen Botanical Garden, which contains more than a quarter of a million plants.

2. Take Me Out to the Ball Game (or the Curling Rink)

A great neighbourhood for athletes of both the real-world and armchair varieties, Cambie is the home of Vancouver’s Minor League Baseball team, the Vancouver Canadians – and offers access to recreational facilities created for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. While Canadians games are a favourite Vancouver summer activity, those who would rather work up a sweat than watch others do so can head to Hillcrest Centre. As the site of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic curling events, the centre now houses an NHL-sized hockey rink and the Vancouver Curling Club, among many other facilities.

3. Living Heritage

The Cambie Village portion of the neighbourhood, between 16th and King Edward Avenues, has 48 sites listed on the Vancouver Heritage Register. Sixty per cent of the single-family homes there were built before 1940, including many character Craftsman-style homes. South of King Edward, the Cambie Heritage Boulevard, originally planned as a “pleasure drive” in 1928, is a designated municipal heritage site planted with around 450 trees.

4. Transit Central

The Cambie neighbourhood is in the geographic centre of Vancouver – and since the Canada Line SkyTrain opened in 2009, it’s been transit central, too. The line runs along Cambie Street, providing rapid transit between downtown Vancouver and Vancouver International Airport in Richmond.

5. Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Cambie is home to countless excellent restaurants and bars, including several Golden Plates winners, such as Lemonade Gluten Free Bakery and Landmark Hot Pot House. Seasons in the Park, located in Queen Elizabeth Park, is a perennial winner for most romantic restaurant and best views. On the nightlife front, Biercraft is a popular gastropub, Kino Café offers a packed schedule of flamenco performances and comedy shows, and Prontino is known for its cocktails.

Christina Newberry is a Vancouver-based writer and editor who writes lifestyle and travel stories for publications both online and in print. When she's not travelling, Christina can be found exploring Vancouver's unique neighbourhoods or puttering in her community garden plot.